Will green ID books become invalid in December 2025?
If you still have the green ID book, this is what you need to know!
Close to 17 million South Africans still carry around the green ID book.
Early this week, several publications reported that the green ID book would be phased out by December 2025. However, Minister of the Department of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, says the reports are incorrect.
He took to X to share a link from a report by the SABC that quoted the department’s Deputy Minister, Njabulo Nzuza, saying, "Very soon before the end of the year, we anticipate that we will have stopped issuing out green barcoded IDs.”
Schreiber said the Deputy Minister was misquoted.
"This article has been updated after the Deputy Minister was misquoted in the original," he wrote on X.
He explained that the phasing out will only happen after Home Affairs has expanded its existing cooperation with different stakeholders to ensure that all South Africans can obtain Smart IDs.
"Home Affairs will work flat-out this year to ensure that all South Africans are able to obtain Smart IDs as part of our vision to deliver 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 @ 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, including by expanding our existing cooperation with banks, introducing home deliveries, making Smart ID available to all citizens, and launching new online channels as part of our vision for digital transformation," he wrote.
"But it is only after this has been achieved, that we will make an official announcement on the phasing out of the green ID book. In the meantime, if you are able to, please do get a Smart ID to protect yourself from the vulnerabilities of the green ID book," he added.
READ: Major news for people with a green ID book and Home Affairs services
The green ID books were launched in 1980.
Green ID bookholders are at a higher risk of identity theft. Their IDs are easy to clone and manipulate and lack key security features.
The new smart ID was introduced in 2013. It has two key security features, as announced by the then Minister, Naledi Pandor, in her 2013 speech :
"The first is physical security features on the card body such as holograms, laser engraving and personal details which will provide visual verification of the card and easily identify tampered cards;
Then, there are logical security features which include fingerprint biometrics and biographic data which is embedded on the 80 kilobytes card chip."
This article has been updated after the Deputy Minister was misquoted in the original. Home Affairs will work flat-out this year to ensure that all South Africans are able to obtain Smart IDs as part of our vision to deliver 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 @ 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, including by… https://t.co/bF2RDSWD9k
— Leon Schreiber (@Leon_Schreib) January 8, 2025
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Image courtesy of iStock/ @ Matthew de Lange